Monday, November 22, 2010

Bill Buchanan's Genealogy Website Updatedhttp://billbuchanan.byethost17.com/
This is just to let you know that my website has been updated with a new copy of the database. It now has 22,090 people, including some of the Buchanan family of Kirlish, County Tyrone, Ireland, where we have a perfect genetic match (Y-DNA 67 markers).
This past summer, my cousin Darlene traveled to Ireland and Scotland, and personally financed this Y-DNA study. She was able to get some genealogy from Buchanans of Kirlish and Buchanans of Cooel, County Tyrone. She also wanted to do a Y-DNA test of the Buchanans of Cooel but time did not allow it. The genealogy is now in my database.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to my knowledge of my extended family and my wife's extended family!

FamilySearch Indexing
The week of November 7th I gave three different lessons on indexing. For one of them I used the first 30 minutes of the informative webinar given by Jim Ericson http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp, followed by the Indexing "Test Drive" at http://indexing.familysearch.org/newuser/nuhome.jsf?3.7.8 then some hands-on help. For the other two lessons I concentrated on the Test Drive... it does such a wonderful job of letting people experience indexing!
From Jim Ericson's presentation, I gather that there are 2.4 million micofilms, 1 million microfiche, and a total of over 3 billion pages of records on film. Indexing makes them available for free on the internet any time people want to use them. At the current rate, it may take 10 years to digitize these records and 300 years to index them so that they can be searched by computer. We need more help!
Laminate Flooring
During that week I also helped one of my sons install laminate flooring in his family room (about 12.5 feet by 22 feet). It was different than the other two types of laminate I have installed. The pieces didn't click end-to-end, just side to side. It went together much easier and much faster and looked better than previous kinds. It seemed just as solid too. We completed the project in one day, whereas I had expected it to take two days! Of course using his electric miter saw instead of my jigsaw made a big difference too. (I have already booked the use of the miter saw for when we replace our baseboards!)
Personal Ancestral File 5 and PAF Companion
Last Thurday's lesson was on this topic. This software is getting old, and only drew two students (3 counting the FHC director). Still, it meets my needs really well. I love the auto-completion feature for the place names and the unlimited size of notes. And I can instantly find anyone in my database! On my website you can find a PAF overview that I used as an outline for my lesson. http://billbuchanan.byethost17.com/ (lower left part of the screen)
I also demontrated the use of multimedia, including the best locations for the media folder, the process of linking media files, the scrapbook, and photo charts in PAF and PAF Companion, using PAF to generate web pages, and running PAF from a flash drive. It was a fun session!
www.new.FamilySearch.org
This coming Thursday will be about new.FamilySearch.org. I will report how my lesson went.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Lesson for 7 PM Thursday, 4 Nov 2010 at Edmonton Riverbend Family History Center14325-53rd Ave (SE entrance as marked) Exit Whitemud Drive at 53 Ave, and turn left.Products and Services from Other Companies (Affiliate Software)
Some companies and organizations provide products and services with features that support FamilySearch. Quotes from http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.htmlCertified Products for new.FamilySearch.org (Family Tree)
FamilyInsight
Designed specifically to help PAF users synchronize with the new FamilySearch website. It ranks matches and highlights differences so you can quickly import or export data and get right back to your research in PAF. Also gives you the ability to merge, cleanup, and compare files with increased accuracy.
[If you have used PAF Insight you will find it easy to use.]
Ancestral Quest
Ancestral Quest is an easy-to-use, full-featured family tree program. The Windows versions of PAF were created from an earlier version of AQ, so PAF users will feel right at home using the screens, reports, and other functions. PAF users can upgrade to AQ or continue to use PAF, supplementing it using the new features in AQ, including the ability to synchronize both AQ and PAF data with new FamilySearch.
RootsMagic 4
Winner of the FamilySearch award for "Easiest to Sync", RootsMagic 4 genealogy software makes working with new FamilySearch a breeze, including reserving ordinances and creating temple trips. Import directly from PAF, new FamilySearch, and other programs.
[There is a free version.]
Legacy Family Tree
A Legacy Family Tree is the FREE genealogy software to organize, research, and publish your family’s tree. Use Legacy to print maps, get research suggestions, collaborate with other family members, cite your sources, publish books and shareable CDs and much more. Legacy makes it easy to work with FamilySearch and will measure your progress against the goals you set for temple work and more. Easily import from PAF and other programs.
[Only partial nFS support]
MacFamilyTree 6
MacFamilyTree 6 is a modern genealogy application for the Mac. Easily enter and then visualize your family history by creating reports, diagrams or browsing this data in the innovative 3D view called Virtual Tree. Collect data and enter it in MacFamilyTree on your Mac or MobileFamilyTree on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. MacFamilyTree has been translated into a total of 15 languages. MacFamilyTree 6 offers New FamilySearch integration, extensive export options and runs on all Macs using Mac OS 10.5 and newer.
Thursday night we will be looking at using FamilyInsight, AncestralQuest, and RootsMagic to synch your data with the new.familysearch.org family tree.